European, American dermatologists combine to share advances

June 22, 2017

European and American dermatologists will gather for the “EADV/AAD Joint Symposium” on July 27.

An annual highlight of the Summer Meeting is a unique collaboration between European and American dermatologists who will share the similarities and differences of their research and treatments for a variety of conditions. The “EADV/AAD Joint Symposium” (S002) on July 27 will explore hemangiomas and vascular malformations, skin issues in cancer patients, systemic sclerosis, atopic dermatitis, and alopecia areata.

“This is a little different from other meeting sessions, so we encourage registrants to come, listen, and participate because we will have time for questions. We feel confident they will hear cutting-edge as well as clinically relevant material in the session,” said the symposium co-chair, Ilona J. Frieden, MD.

The other co-chair is Martin Röcken, MD, who is the chair for scientific programming at the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology Congress, which takes place Sept. 13-17 in Geneva. A similar joint session will occur at the EADV meeting in September.

“Because Professor Röcken is the scientific program chair for the EADV meeting, he is well aware of who are the strongest speakers in Europe,” Dr. Frieden said of Dr. Röcken, who is professor and chair of dermatology at Eberhard-Karls-University Tubingen, Germany. “We are excited about the people who will be presenting.”

Discussing hemangiomas and vascular malformation will be Eulalia Baselga, MD, the head of pediatric dermatology at Hospital Saint Pau, Barcelona, Spain. She has a long-standing interest in vascular birthmarks, and will present both diagnostic and management updates.

“This is a hot topic because there are a lot of new cancer therapies, and many cause skin reactions,” said Dr. Frieden, a professor of dermatology and pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco. “This session includes some of the medications we use in treating melanoma and other skin malignancies, but also treatments of many non-cutaneous malignancies, where we, as dermatologists, are involved in managing skin-related side effects. Our goal is to help so these patients can stay on therapies for their cancer, if at all possible. We don’t want the skin issues to be a limiting factor that could prevent them from using these therapies.”

Looking at the latest advances in managing systemic sclerosis and scleroderma-like diseases will be a dermatologist with experience on both sides of the Atlantic, Lidia Rudnicka, MD, PhD. Born and trained in the U.S., she is chairman of the department of dermatology at Medical University of Warsaw.

Discussing barrier dysfunction and Th2 immunity will be Tilo Biedermann, MD, PhD, chair of dermatology and allergology at Technical University of Munich, Germany. He will examine the interaction between the immune system and the microbiome in atopic dermatitis.

“This is an example where the Europeans do sometimes have different approaches from Americans. Many European dermatologists also have strong interests in allergy, so often they approach diseases like atopic dermatitis from a slightly different perspective,” Dr. Frieden said.

The final presentation will examine the latest research in alopecia areata by Angela Christiano, PhD, an associate professor of molecular dermatology at Columbia University. “Dr. Christiano is well known to dermatologists as an especially dynamic speaker with a special interest in hair disorders,” Dr. Frieden said.